Israel, Palestine agree to long-term ceasefire in Gaza Strip

Palestinians celebrate what they said was a victory over Israel following a ceasefire in Gaza City August 26, 2014 (Reuters / Mohammed Salem) / Reuters

A long-term truce in Gaza has been agreed with Israel, Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas said. The ceasefire announced by Egypt came into effect at 16:00 GMT with almost immediate reports of warning sirens going off in southern Israel.

“We have responded to the Egyptian proposal for a complete
and comprehensive cease-fire, which starts at 19:00 Cairo
time,” Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, stated.
"There will be a complete stop in fighting."

A senior Israeli official confirmed to Reuters that Israel had
accepted the Egyptian proposal for a "for a complete and
unlimited-in-time ceasefire" Gaza ceasefire.

"Israel accepted already the Egyptian proposal on July 15.
Israel has always supported an unconditional, open-ended
ceasefire," the anonymous official told the agency.

Celebratory gunfire rang through Gaza shortly after 7pm as
thousands flocked to the streets in celebration.

However, shortly after the ceasefire was scheduled to take
effect, sirens indicating rocket attacks also continued to be
heard in southern Israel.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that indirect
talks are set to continue within the space of a month.

An anonymous Palestinian official also told AFP that the contacts
working on the issue in Egypt's capital "agreed a permanent
cease-fire, a [deal to] end the blockade and a guarantee that
Gaza's demands and needs will be met."

Prior to the ceasefire's announcement, Azzam al-Ahmed, head of
the Palestinian delegation had been "shuttling between the
leadership of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, all the factions, and
Egyptian leaders, travelling between Ramallah, Gaza, Doha
overseas," for some 48 hours, according to the official.

Tel Aviv has reportedly agreed to bring its blockade of Gaza to a
halt in order to allow relief supplies and construction materials
through. Further discussions are expected to center around the
potential establishment of a seaport and an airport in the Gaza
strip, a senior Hamas official told AP.

The deal reached, however, will not see the opening of Gaza’s
borders to Israel and Egypt, and did not apparently see any major
steps back on the part of Israel despite cries of ‘victory’.

Fighting continued right up to the final minute before the
ceasefire was declared. Rocket sirens were heard in southern
Israel – near the Gaza border, reported Haaretz. Three Israelis
were wounded by mortar shell explosion in Eshkol regional
Council. The Jerusalem Post reported that at least 116 rockets
exploded in the area over the course of the day.

BREAKING: An Israeli civilian was killed and several others
were wounded after a mortar fired from Gaza hit Eshkol.

Monday marked the 50th day since Israel started its campaign in
Gaza on July 8 and the death toll has already reached 2,120
people, of which 577 are children, according to the Palestinian
Health Ministry.

On Tuesday, 25 people were injured when Israel bombed two Gaza
City high-rises containing dozens of homes and shops, according
to health officials.